Monotional Monologue In Andre's Mother By Terrence Mcnalally

The period from the 1960s until the 1980s is one that many would define as the second sexual revolution. Different kinds of relationships and alternative forms of sexuality became increasingly accepted. Then, in the 1980s, the AIDS crisis gained national attention and the perception of sexuality changed dramatically. People became less liberal about sex as they tried to protect themselves from the disease. Because HIV had not garnered much attention in the media before the 1980s, scientists had not really focused on finding a treatment. HIV, which stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, is a virus which weakens the immune system of its host by reproducing in the host’s immune cells. Unlike most viruses, the human body cannot clear HIV out

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was first recognized as a new disease in 1981 when increasing numbers of young homosexual men succumbed to unusual opportunistic infections and rare

One of the big factors early on is that no one wanted to be associated with AIDS due to the fact that it was considered a homosexual man’s disease. There was a lot of fear, denial and anger surrounding this disease. In 1981at the CDC Dr. Guinan asks that a report about an epidemic with gay men had broken out and he wanted it published in the medical journal. The fear of the word “homosexual” was marked off and not used for that article. It took a long time for the realization that this disease could affect everyone from homosexual males, IV drug users, blood transfusion patients, women and even babies. Even though it was initially considered the disease came from gay men and their sexual practices it crossed all borders as time went on. Still today there is some prejudice regarding AIDS. (Spelling, Vincent &

Politically, both in America and Britain, the idea of a Gay related illness was something which did not

This history of HIV/AIDS as a blurry timeline before the 1980’s since that was around the time reports came in which eventually become an HIV report. The origin of HIV can be traced back to the early part of the century. Some believe that in the 1920’s chimpanzees from the Congo came into contact with humans (Avert, 2016). Though reports were not identified as HIV until the 1980’s, the belief that HIV was already scattered throughout four other continents may have been incident (Avert, 2016). Even though for the past 30 years the world has been diligently working to find a cure and pushing prevention, we are still struggling each year with increasing diagnosis. The beginning of HIV did end with lots of death, but now with our improved antiviral medication there is hope for many.

Though incurable, there is medication that can be used to help an infected person live a relatively normal life, but the medication is extremely expansive. Thus the number one prevention method is education. The United States government’s response to the entire disease in a medical, social and economic way were consider major failures as millions were left to suffer without support. Unlike today, where one can search the Internet to learn about their disease and how to handle it, back in 1980’s and 1990’s people were being infected and given no guidance from the government on how to handle it. This caused great fear in Americans and many misconceptions about the disease started to develop. People were unaware that the disease could only transfer through the contact of bodily fluids so people with AIDS were socially exiled out of fear that they might infect others. Thus this disease affected the gay community that was already stigmatized by society more than any other single demographic of people.

AIDS was detected in the United States was in 1981, when groups of men in New York and

In this story, it fascinated me when it made reference about the therapist needing to be transferable to the mother or father role in the family regardless of the therapist’s sex. In this case the clients are the traditional mother and father with two male co-therapists. Whitaker was seen taking on the maternal role when addressing Carolyn’s childhood and current issues with her mother while Napier observed the conversation. This was a great part of the book which portrayed isomorphism. This idea of being able to stay neutral as well as to identify with the role of mother or father adds another layer of complexity to help guide the context of the situation.

The poem “Faith”, written by Mark Doty in 1995, works to destigmatize Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) through his relationship with his partner, Wally. Since this poem was written in the mid-1990s, it is a progressive piece that focuses on normalizing homosexuality and raising awareness for AIDS. His writing focuses on combatting the largely-held belief that AIDS only affects homosexual men. There was also the idea that there were “good gays” and “bad gays”. “Bad gays” were the ones who had the misfortune to contract HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and “good gays” did not contract HIV. Additionally, he describes the profound effect that a terminal disease can have on a relationship. Doty’s poem represents the idea that true love provides mankind with the ability to conquer fears. The main purpose of his poem is to show his love for his significant other and show the effect that AIDS had on their relationship, strengthening it, while making it more fragile at the same time. Doty’s poem is important because it opens up a non-judgmental conversation about AIDS, which was unique for that time.

In the story “Killings” by Andre Dubus, a mother has to deal with the heartbreaking, sudden loss of her young son. The story only provides brief glimpses of how Ruth, the mother, copes with this; whereas the film, In the Bedroom, helps provide a much better perspective of how depressed and misguided Ruth is over this loss. In “Killings”, Ruth is a protective mother who only wants the best for her son, she encourages Frank to discontinue fraternizing with Mary Ann, in fear it will interfere with his future. Although in the story Ruth attempts to place responsibility on those around her, the film In the Bedroom sheds light on how she feels she is responsible for her son's death.

Carl Zimmer the guest speaker of this broadcast states that in 1981 doctors described for the first time a new disease, a new syndrome which affected mostly homosexual men. The young men in Los Angeles were dying and the number of cases was growing faster and faster. The number of deaths was increasing from eighty to six hundred and twenty five in just the first few months. After the first few cases in LA, AIDS was declared to be one of the deadliest pandemics the world had ever seen after the plague in the Middle Ages.

When the AIDS and HIV virus crept its way into the human-race, it quickly, and without warning, claimed the lives of millions. Then when its destructive wake had finally been abated, it left behind several untold mysteries. Throughout the course of this class, all the new material we have been exposed to has added some unique piece to the puzzle of the AIDS epidemic. Each puzzle pieces have ranged from speculations on how the AIDS epidemic had begun, to what exactly has the epidemic done. We have also tackled the question and how it forced a change in society. Our newest piece of the puzzle is the documentary “The Age of AIDS,” by William Cran. Although this documentary did not surprise me in its content, it did, however, affirm certain types

According to a report published in the February 1998 edition of “Nature”, scientists identified what they believe is the earliest case of AIDs in a man from the Congo in 1959. (Lerner and Hombs 39) By the end of the year 1980, 80 men would have been diagnosed with at least of the opportunistic infections that are a characteristic of AIDs. (Lerner and Hombs 40) AIDs cases in the 1980s increased dramatically not only around the world but in the United States, primarily in larger cities like Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco. The numbers of AIDs diagnoses and deaths spiraled out of control throughout the 1980s and towards the end of 1989 there were 117,500 cases of AIDS reported and 89,000 related deaths.(Lerner and Hombs 54) In the

The 1980s were particularly devastating for the gay men. 1985 marked the beginning of President Reagan’s second term. Reagan is mentioned several times over the course of part 1 not only to set a political backdrop for the series, but also challenges the audience to question why the government was so slow to respond to this issue. Reagan didn’t even give his first speech on HIV/AIDS until years after the on-start of the epidemic and after thousands of lives had been lost. In this context, it is fair to assume that HIV/AIDS really became an epidemic through the lack of immediate action from the government and medical establishments that can be directly attributed to homophobic. From its onset, there was widespread fear of contamination as AIDS was constructed as a fatal infectious disease that threatened to wipe out mankind. It was also seen as a “gay plague” or punishment for sexually abnormal behavior.

In “The Mother”, Brooks discusses the mental torment that she has experienced after having an abortion. She writes that “Abortions will not let you forget” (Brooks 388), meaning that the burdensome decision to have an abortion is something that will haunt her for years, because she agree to end the life of her own child. A woman’s connection to her child is extremely powerful and she must cope with the love that she had extinguished. At first glance, Hemingway’s story illustrates how a pregnancy can upset a happy relationship. The relationship between the man and the